Unproven Bears welcome change, opportunity on offense

Tuesday

Jul 29, 2008 at 12:01 AMJul 29, 2008 at 7:39 AM

No team in the NFL is more unsettled, or more unproven, at the skill positions than the Chicago Bears. They don’t know who their quarterback, running back or receivers will be. And they are unclear about who at least two of the five blockers in front of them will be.

No team in the NFL is more unsettled, or more unproven, at the skill positions than the Chicago Bears. They don’t know who their quarterback, running back or receivers will be. And they are unclear about who at least two of the five blockers in front of them will be.

Only tight end is set, with Desmond Clark and 2007 No. 1 draft pick Greg Olsen.

That unsettled offense is why a team with six former Pro Bowlers on defense is widely expected to finish under .500. But change isn’t a bad thing for an offense that has been ranked 26th, 29th, 28th, 32nd, 29th, 15th and 27th in the NFL the past seven years.

“We’ve got a lot of good players,” Clark said. “They may be young, but they are still good. It doesn’t matter if they are young or older; it’s a black-and-white league: either you can get it done or you can’t. We think they can get it done.”

It worked for the White Sox this year. Instead of banking on improvement from Juan Uribe and Brian Anderson, they plugged in young unknowns Carlos Quentin and Alexei Ramirez, who revitalized the entire offense.

Six new Bears starters means hope, not gloom, for a consistently weak offense.

“It’s a good problem to have when you have good players like we do,” said John St. Clair, who is expected to start for the first time, at either left tackle or left guard.

“We have a lot of guys who haven’t done it,” offensive coordinator Ron Turner agreed, “but have a lot of ability.”

If No. 1 draft pick Chris Williams (stiff back) gets healthy and pans out, Chicago’s offensive line should improve after cutting Ruben Brown and Fred Miller, who grew old overnight. Likewise, No. 2 draft pick Matt Forte and former 1,000-yard rusher Kevin Jones, who is still recovering from a knee injury, should be an upgrade from draft bust Cedric Benson and career backup Adrian Peterson. Chicago averaged a league-worst 3.1 yards per carry last season and ranked 29th on third-down conversions.

“The better your players are, the more you can do,” Turner said. “If we’re running the ball well, which I think we will with a good offensive line, then we can do a lot more.

“If it’s tough running the ball, then it’s tough (on offense). But we will run the ball.”

Tight end should be even better with Olsen, underused as a rookie, now “ready to be a large part of this offense.”

Grossman, or Orton, should benefit with an additional year of experience.

“We really don’t have a No. 1 receiver in our offense,” Bradley said. “Everybody will be spread out with an even amount of balls.”

The receivers will all look better if Hester can develop into a home-run threat the way he is as a kick returner, with 12 touchdowns in two years.

“When he came into the game last year, they knew he was in the game,” Orton said. “He’s the most explosive player in the league. This year it will be more of a steady dose and they won’t be able to key on him every single play.”

The 2007 Bears fumbled 34 times, their second-most in 19 seasons. They threw 21 interceptions. And they committed 111 penalties to finish in the top five in the NFL for the second year in a row.

If the mistakes change as much as the personnel, the Bears’ new offense could drastically improve.

“We’re going to surprise a lot of people and be a productive offense,” said Olsen, who caught 39 passes for 391 yards as a rookie last year. “We have a lot of talented guys. We just can’t hurt ourselves. It’s hard enough to be successful in this league against other teams; when you play yourself, too, it makes it too tough.”

Matt Trowbridge can be reached at (815) 987-1383 or mtrowbridge@rrstar.com.